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Which movie did you watch today and how would you rate it?

I just watched Nocturnal Animals (2016), a "neo-noir psychological thriller" that gets 7.5 IMDB points. I would give it much less, perhaps 6.3.

The plot revolves around the Amy Adams character reading a novel by her ex-husband. The novel is a horror story which supposedly reminds the Amy Adams character of their marriage. But it all seems disconnected and pointless to me.

Let me describe something weird about me. Early in the film, there is a horror scene. One knows that hoodlums are about to kidnap a man's wife and daughter for rape and mayhem, but the action proceeds slowly, the hoodlums taking their time. I can't stand to watch it. I repeatedly push Pause and do something else (e.g. checking IIDB for new messages!) I'm not sure if I can even watch past this suspenseful horrifying scene.

The movie's a fiction of course, so why should I be terrified? But I am. Suddenly I'm reminded that this is a fiction within a fiction -- the ex-husband's novel is being acted out in Amy Adams' imagination. And now it's OK! I can watch the horrible scene without being paralyzed by fear, knowing it's not just a fiction, but a fiction within a fiction!

Am I weird?
 
Swammerdami said:
I just watched Nocturnal Animals (2016), a "neo-noir psychological thriller" that gets 7.5 IMDB points. I would give it much less, perhaps 6.3.

The plot revolves around the Amy Adams character reading a novel by her ex-husband. The novel is a horror story which supposedly reminds the Amy Adams character of their marriage. But it all seems disconnected and pointless to me.

Let me describe something weird about me. Early in the film, there is a horror scene. One knows that hoodlums are about to kidnap a man's wife and daughter for rape and mayhem, but the action proceeds slowly, the hoodlums taking their time. I can't stand to watch it. I repeatedly push Pause and do something else (e.g. checking IIDB for new messages!) I'm not sure if I can even watch past this suspenseful horrifying scene.

The movie's a fiction of course, so why should I be terrified? But I am. Suddenly I'm reminded that this is a fiction within a fiction -- the ex-husband's novel is being acted out in Amy Adams' imagination. And now it's OK! I can watch the horrible scene without being paralyzed by fear, knowing it's not just a fiction, but a fiction within a fiction!

Am I weird?
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Yeah, but not because of that. ;)
 
Magical negro.
First I need to preface my comments.
(a) I do not intend any malice or insult. I apologize ahead of time if you take offense.
(b) I am 2nd generation Ukrainian-American. I understand my worldview is incapable of seeing the world from the black worldview.

I found the DVD at Walmart this week. It's fun. I liked it. 8/10. But I would feel uncomfortable watching it with a black friend.
(I have a very large statistically significant number of them. One. /sarcasm) I have seen every science fiction film in the last 40 years with this guy. But not this movie.
Two observations on the 'magical negro' 'trope'.
1) I have seen 'magical negro' behavior in real life, but I haven't seen it in movies. Aside from being black, what the trope describes is the traditional role of a supporting character, or "sidekick".
It could have been anybody: white, black, woman, gay. Rarely needed to be whatever.
2) If you are reading more into a sidekick, what you are probably seeing is 'tokenism'. Token black, token woman, token gay.
I you are going to put a token in your film, the obvious place for them is the "sidekick" role.
3) The film is not actually talking about black people in films, is it?
thebeave said:
"Magical White Bitch". :cool: I recall a TV show as a kid called "Nanny and the Professor". The nanny seemed to have some implied supernatural abilities. Then, of course, there's "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie".
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S.O.S.W.A.G. The Society Of Supportive Wives And Girlfriends. in "Magical Negro".
I have seen more SOSWAG agents in films, than Magical Negroes.
 
Oppenheimer
6.75/10

Good flick, but has some pacing problems. It's not the epic I was hoping for, but certainly worth watching. If you already know about the development of the A-bomb and the subsequent H-bomb, then there's really not a lot to learn here about that. The lesser known behind the scenes stuff is interesting, but there's a lot of focus on Oppenheimer's personal life, which is meh.

Biggest complaint is the runtime. Jesus f'ing Christ on a Stick, the thing's 3 hours long. Or maybe I'm just getting too old to sit through movies like that. I had to carve it up into 3 three hour sessions.
 
Colonel Sanders said:
Oppenheimer
6.75/10

Good flick, but has some pacing problems. It's not the epic I was hoping for, but certainly worth watching. If you already know about the development of the A-bomb and the subsequent H-bomb, then there's really not a lot to learn here about that. The lesser known behind the scenes stuff is interesting, but there's a lot of focus on Oppenheimer's personal life, which is meh.

Biggest complaint is the runtime. Jesus f'ing Christ on a Stick, the thing's 3 hours long. Or maybe I'm just getting too old to sit through movies like that. I had to carve it up into 3 three hour sessions.
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Yeah, I didn't think much of it too. Surprised it got the reception it did.
 
I liked the movie. I was well aware of the history of building the bomb, so I was able to follow that part of the story, understanding who and what was being addressed even when the script just made a quick passing reference. There was one scene of the physicists having a party, with a quick take of a young man flaying some bongo drums. That was our glimpse of Richard Feynman, although I don’t think IRL he got into bongos for another ten years or so.

But what was less known to me was the story of how jealous colleagues and Red-fearing hawks systematically screwed Oppenheimer. The film dragged a bit in that area, I’ll admit, but overall I liked it.
 
Colonel Sanders said:
Oppenheimer
6.75/10

Good flick, but has some pacing problems. It's not the epic I was hoping for, but certainly worth watching. If you already know about the development of the A-bomb and the subsequent H-bomb, then there's really not a lot to learn here about that. The lesser known behind the scenes stuff is interesting, but there's a lot of focus on Oppenheimer's personal life, which is meh.

Biggest complaint is the runtime. Jesus f'ing Christ on a Stick, the thing's 3 hours long. Or maybe I'm just getting too old to sit through movies like that. I had to carve it up into 3 three hour sessions.
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It reminds me of Lawrence of Arabia and The Imitation Game. Those are also good movies so long as you don't watch to the end.
 
Oppenheimer was the first movie I watched on a BIG screen in a LONG time. It was OK and might have been more interesting if I hadn't already read Rhodes' book AND a biography of Oppenheimer. My son is a big Christopher Nolan fan (and also a Cillian Murphy fan via Peaky Blinders) and loved the movie. Instead of IMDB's 8.3, I might give it 7.9.

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The movie I just finished was Kiss the Girls (1997) with Morgan Freeman. It got 6.6 IMDB points and might be worth that much if silly horror/thrillers is your genre. But it's not my genre, so I'll give it 5.5. The name "Dr. Alex Cross" was familiar so I'd read some of the related novels, but not enough for any favorable impression. It struck me as peculiar that the hero and heroine (two poorly armed M.D.s) were sent out with no backup against the FBI's #1 Most Wanted. The plot is so formulaic I don't think it's a spoiler to say that the Secret Monster appears at heroine's house in the final scene just as hero figures out who Secret Monster is.

I'm sure some scriptwriter thought the final scene's dialog was brilliant. The Freeman character even paraphrases Pontius Pilate ("Tell me what truth is.") The movie has a happy ending: The heroine desperately needs a proper tourniquet but instead gets a lingering kiss.
 
In the world in which we live in, I can only stand to watch comedies, so last night we watched "Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery". We've probably seen it at least 4 or 5 times over the years, but we needed some comic relief and that did it. Mike Myers is hilarious as both Dr. Evil and Austin Powers. "It's a smashing shagadelic party." Yeah Baby! We have all three movies in the series and might watch the next one tonight. The movie has lots of funny lines and expressions and is silly from start to finish. I can't stand serious dramas anymore. I tried to watch "Glen Gary Glen Ross" last week, which is a terrific drama that I saw many years ago, but I just couldn't pay attention. I like to laugh!
 
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

40 years after he original, 30 after the last sequel, and it will pull you right back into those movies. The music is the same, the comedy is good, the action is great, a definite watch if you liked the original
 
I just watched Page Eight (2011), a British political thriller. Unlike an American political thriller, which would have at least one explosion, two shootings and a car chase, Page Eight has none of that. It's more "cerebral" but, fortunately for me not TOO cerebral: overly cerebral movies often leave me confused and uninterested. It gets 6.8 IMDB points, which is pretty high, but I would give it 7.1 or so -- it's "my genre."

It's on Netflix, where I found it searching for "Eastwood"! Among some top British actors, the lead is played by Bill Nighy who looks like Clint Eastwood in a distant frontal shot, though I guess that is unrelated to whatever connection Netflix made!

Just now from Google I see it is first of a trilogy, so Salting the Battlefield and Turks & Caicos become must-watches for me. (But Netflix has neither.)

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IMDB scores are usually close to my own personal scores, except that I promote "my genres" (e.g. heist, and slightly cerebral thrillers). Spy Game -- a heist-like spy thriller with Robert Redford -- and The Interpreter -- a political thriller with two of my favorite actors (Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn) -- are two that IMDB gets especially "wrong." IMDB scores them at 7.1 and 6.4 respectively, but each of them is on my personal Forty Best Movies List.
 
Swammerdami said:
Just now from Google I see it is first of a trilogy, so Salting the Battlefield and Turks & Caicos become must-watches for me. (But Netflix has neither.)
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Netflix isn't the only starfish in the sea, and I managed to watch other parts of the trilogy elsehow. I liked Turks & Caicos better than Page Eight but the finale, Salting the Battlefield, least of the three. Bill Nighly, the Clint Eastwood-lookalike actor, was 64 when h made these films, so it was hope-inspiring to see gorgeous brunettes throwing themselves at him! :-)
 
The Abyss in 4K

Wow, they didn't screw this one up! Looks incredible. Doesn't detract from the sexist portrayal of the female lead, though maybe it isn't sexist and more accurate within the field?

I haven't watched this film a lot so it was still fresh, if not a tad formulaic.
 
southernhybrid said:
In the world in which we live in, I can only stand to watch comedies, so last night we watched "Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery". We've probably seen it at least 4 or 5 times over the years, but we needed some comic relief and that did it. Mike Myers is hilarious as both Dr. Evil and Austin Powers. "It's a smashing shagadelic party." Yeah Baby! We have all three movies in the series and might watch the next one tonight. The movie has lots of funny lines and expressions and is silly from start to finish. I can't stand serious dramas anymore. I tried to watch "Glen Gary Glen Ross" last week, which is a terrific drama that I saw many years ago, but I just couldn't pay attention. I like to laugh!
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I meant to update that we finished the other two Austin Powers comedies. They are hilarious and I didn't even realize that a 19 year old Beyonce starred as Foxy Cleopatra, a part that satirizes the old Blaxploitation movies. I think it was her first film and she was great. That movie was "Goldmember."

We also watched "City Hall" starring one of my favorite actors, Al Pacino. It's not a comedy but it's a great drama that won several awards. And, we also watched "Scent of a Woman", another one of my favorite Pacino films. He stars as a blind, former military officer who wants to have a last weekend of fun, before he kills himself. I love that movie and if you like a good drama with great characters, and lots of suspense, watch it. I think it also won lots of awards. I have about 6 Pacino movies on DVD and I've enjoyed watching them many times. The second movie in the series is "The Spy who Shagged Me'. All three are good for lots of laughs. I think Mike Myer was heavily influenced by Mel Brooks. If you like Brooks, comedies, you'll love the Austin Powers trilogy.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
The Abyss in 4K

Wow, they didn't screw this one up! Looks incredible. Doesn't detract from the sexist portrayal of the female lead, though maybe it isn't sexist and more accurate within the field?

I haven't watched this film a lot so it was still fresh, if not a tad formulaic.
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What makes it sexist? James Cameron usually is really good with his portrayal of female characters. Its been so long since I saw this movie, I don't really remember the characters at all.
 
bilby said:
southernhybrid said:
I have about 6 Pacino movies on DVD and I've enjoyed watching them many times. The second movie in the series is "The Spy who Shagged Me'.
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I don't remember Pacino being in that one.

;)
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Well, obviously, you don't understand my American version of fast typing early in the day or you would have figured out the puzzle.
 
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